


Strings

by Tria101



Series: the Rulers of Subcon [3]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tria101/pseuds/Tria101
Summary: The prince is stressed out. After being effectively disowned by his father, he just wanted some food and some rest...but the kitchen, Vanessa...it's all so overwhelming...
Relationships: The Prince & Queen Vanessa (A Hat in Time)
Series: the Rulers of Subcon [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754167
Kudos: 11





	Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this from my phone, so I can't have any real fun with the tags :'3
> 
> My basic premise for this was thus; if Moonjunper has magic strings he can use on people, then did the prince also have this ability? What if he had managed to tap into it while he was still alive?

"My prince--"  
"Remember, the ban--?"  
"Lumiose, are you _listening_ \--!?"  
  
 **_Worthless boy._ ** **_  
_** **_You're no son of mine._ **  
  
"um, your majesties, the queen, she's--"  
  
 **_Get out of my sight._ ** **_  
_** **_Until you've found a_ ** **_suitable_ ** **_woman of royal blood and produced an heir, you're no longer welcome--_ ** **_  
_** **_  
_** "Where's Illiad? He's supposed to be helping--"  
  
"Just - pass me the eggs, ye gods!" **_  
_** **_  
_** " _Prince Lumiose, look at me!_ "  
  
Voices swirled around in his head. The hustle and bustle of the kitchen was overwhelming. He had _just_ wanted to eat some bacon, maybe some of his fiance's cookies, and forget about everything for a while. Everything outside of her _loving embrace_ .  
  
But he couldn't very well _have that_ , now could he?  
  
And now, he could hear the footsteps of the woman that would both quiet things down and make them all worse, getting far too close to the room. He knew she wouldn't stick around for very long.  
 _All she'll do is wind Vanessa up even more._  
  
This was all just - _just_ ...  
  
" **_What're you all doing here!?_ ** "  
  
"--a-ah, Mother, I--" Vanessa shrunk back, losing every single bit of bravado she had before. As much as he hated being yelled at, he hated seeing her look so scared and timid even more...  
 _What in Subcon did that woman do to make her lose her fire like that...?_ _  
_  
" **_Silence, you!_ ** **_  
_** **_G̷͟E̶T͞ ͝ǪU̢T Ǫ̷F̸͞ ̵̷M̢͢Y̕̕͠ ͡S̷͢I̶G͝H̢͡Ţ̛!͡_ ** **_  
_** **_ALL OF YOU!"_ ** **_  
_** **_  
_** Everyone quickly scrambled out, Vanessa dragging him by his hand, up to her room. Away from everyone...  
It should have been a relief.  
  
Only - she proceeded to round on him. He could tell from a glance that her nerves were just as frayed as his.  
 _So why must she yell!?_  
  
The words she spat were meaningless in his ears. His head was pounding, his thoughts swam past him...  
His body had begun to burn up, his fingers tingling with pins and needles.  
 _Why are you_ _like this_ _, Vanessa!?_  
Why, why did his beloved always have to disappear...  
She would return, once the screaming ended, she always did... _but why would she go away to begin with?_  
  
He just  
w ̡ a ͡ nt ̵ e ̷ d  
hi͞s ̢pr͘͞i͢nc̷e͜s͝s̸͜ ̧͘b͠a̶c͘͟k̢.͟..̷!̷  
  
Suddenly -- she let out a yelp as he pulled the strings taut. He snapped back to reality.  
Bright red strings had connected themselves to her body. She gasped and whimpered, her eyes closed tight. Every little twitch she gave, trying to resist them, sent tremors down the strings...  
...right back to his offending fingertips.  
  
He stared at his hand, then at his love. Hesitantly, he moved his fingers and, like a grotesque marionette, her body finally moved in response.  
Feeling a surge of...some kind of emotion he hated - guilt? Shame? _Fear?_ \- he dropped the magic.  
  
After a moment or two, Vanessa seemed to process that he had done so, gingerly rubbing her arms...  
Then, she rushed to him, causing him to recoil. He could count the amount of times she had struck him over the two years they had been together on one hand. And whenever it happened, she was _always_ instantly regretful, and he'd always forgive her, no matter how much he didn't really want to...  
  
This...was the one time he would have taken a hit, her screaming, her rage, and would have felt it was completely justified. He would have allowed any sort of punishment, because, what he had done just now, unintentional as it was, had been _far_ out of line.  
  
So, imagine his surprise when she clung to him, sobbing into his coat.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!" She gasped through her tears, which were quickly freezing up on her face. The one way he knew she was being absolutely genuine; she couldn't repress her magic when she was truly upset. "I know I shouldn't have y-yelled at you...! P-please...I'm sorry...I'll be good, I'll be really, _really_ good...!  
Just-- please don't do that again...! _Please...!_ "  
  
His heart _shattered_ .  
He had never seen Vanessa like this. Had never, _ever_ seen her beg or plead...  
She always carefully kept an unbreakable air about her, when she wasn't completely relaxed and actually acting like a _person_ . Like she was an unmovable force, royalty that could never be swayed.  
Sure, this illusion would disappear around her Mother, whom even _he_ had to be careful around...  
  
But _this?_  
 _This_ was a young girl, not even an adult yet, absolutely scared out of her wits. Terrified -- because of something _he_ had done. _Because of things that had happened before him._  
All of a sudden, his beautiful, beloved fiance...looked so vulnerable, so _fragile_ .  
  
Ye gods, how had he even...?  
  
"I-it's okay...shhh, it's alright...y-you're okay..." He pulled her into a tight hug, gently resting a hand on her head. He hadn't really thought about it before, but, right now, he couldn't unthink it...  
 _She feels so...small, so bony..._ _  
__If I hold too tight, would she just...break...?_ _  
_"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He tried to apologize back, but they fell on deaf ears. She continued to cling to him. "I-it...was an accident, my love, truly..."  
Vanessa let out a small whimper, and, in an instant, he knew what she was looking for _wasn't_ an apology, nor fault from him in any way, no matter how much of the truth it was...  
  
He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully.  
"It's...it's alright..." He cooed softly. "Just...do your best in the future, okay...?"  
  
"M-mhm...I-I will... I'm sorry... "  
  
"Shh, it's okay, I'm not mad..." He assured as he continued to hold her. Slowly, she seemed to relax... "I'm not mad, I promise...it's okay..."  
  


* * *

  
Lumiose shifted on Vanessa's bed. He was sitting on the edge, not saying or doing much as she was awkwardly tucked in. Both of their thoughts were in different places - _she_ was worried about how upset Mother would be, if the knowledge that her boyfriend had chosen to stay overnight got out, while he couldn't stop thinking about the strings from earlier. Both of them had been far too shaken up to just...spend the night alone. And Vanessa admitted that she feared she'd have nightmares from the experience.  
The problem was that Mother had always been completely adamant that Lumiose could _not_ spend the night in their manor, no matter the circumstances. Even pleading on the grounds that he had nowhere else to go right now fell on deaf ears.  
  
She had half a mind right now to ask him to leave her room, sleep with the servants perhaps, as the fear of her Mother began to outweigh her desire for her fiance to be comfortable...  
...but such worries had to leave her head when he spoke up, to make room for new ones.  
  
"My princess...?" His voice was soft and hushed as he turned to her. A strange spark was in his eyes.  
One she really didn't like.  
"Do you think I could - we could..." He paused, thinking over his words a bit more carefully. "...I'd like to try that spell again, if that'd be alright."  
  
She let out a small whimper in response. "Please don't..." Her voice was so tiny, so scared. It made him feel bad enough to shift so he could wrap an arm around her, pulling her surprisingly light body off the bed and closer to his chest.  
  
"It'll be okay." He assured, trying to smile for her. "I'll be right here the whole time, I won't let anything bad happen to you. If my theory's correct, it shouldn't hurt one bit if you stay relaxed...!"  
  
Vanessa grimaced. Her eyes stared deeply into his, desperately searching for... _something_ . Something to make her feel better, in a way his words wasn't accomplishing in the slightest. "I-I dunno how I can stay relaxed like _that_ ..." She replied in a hushed tone. "Please -- do I have to...? Can't you find someone else to practice on?"  
  
He stuck his tongue out thoughtfully.  
"...I suppose there _was_ this florist out...--gah." He shook his head. "N-no, I can't do that...! I'd practically be abusing my status as prince!  
Nessa, please - I wouldn't ask this of you if I couldn't assure you that it's absolutely safe." And he leaned in, beginning to pepper her face with kiss after kiss. "Come on, just this once...? For me?"  
  
She wanted to be angry. She _felt_ something akin to anger. He was putting someone else some other woman, most likely above _her_ ?  
But, even so, instead of the boiling fury she could always get in any other situation...all her body wanted to do right now was cry. She felt the tears building up behind her eyes, making them ache and sting. Yet, she refused to let them out - not now. Perhaps, not ever.  
  
Though, the slightest hint of a sob still broke through her voice, causing him to hesitate. "O...o-only if you stay with me the entire night...deal...?" She managed out, moving to hold onto his hands tightly. "P-please...I can't...I can't be alone after this..."  
  
 _It's okay, you don't have to._ _  
__I'll find someone else somehow._  
The words bubbled in his throat...and no further. Instead, he gave her a few more kisses, making sure the last one was on her lips, which seemed to calm her down somewhat.  
"Of course, my love." He said gently. "We can even get it in writing, if you'd like~"  
His joke, quite apparently, didn't land the way he had hoped, as her shoulders merely bounced with a hiccup she couldn't control.  
"...alright, it's alright...you'll be okay..." He hugged her tight. "It's just for a little bit. And then we can cuddle as much as you like, alright~?"  
  
She sniffled, hiccupping again. "...m-mhm.  
Shall we...?"  
  
"We shall!" He smiled, nuzzling. "Thank you so much, my princess~!"


End file.
